Center for Law and Social Policy

08/27/2026

CLASP's new report explores who is most impacted by restrictions on SNAP, Medicaid, ACA subsidies, and other public benefit programs. What we found:
➡️ Immigrants are one of the major groups impacted by recent policy shifts
➡️ Fear of deportation and family separation, and confusion about eligibility, prevent eligible, tax-paying residents from seeking benefits
➡️ Restricting immigrant access to benefits creates long-term health inequities, increases strain on our healthcare system, and weakens our overall public health

Learn how we can expand access to essential services:

This brief examines how public benefit restrictions disproportionately affect immigrants, limiting access to food and health care and worsening health inequities.

08/27/2026

Restricting eligible, taxpaying immigrants from public benefits affects us all. ’s new report finds that recent policy shifts restrict immigrant access to public benefit programs,

➡️ creating long-term health inequities,
➡️ increasing strain on the healthcare system,
➡️ and weakening our overall public health and herd immunity.

Learn how we can expand access to essential services:

This brief examines how public benefit restrictions disproportionately affect immigrants, limiting access to food and health care and worsening health inequities.

08/20/2026

WIC participation has dropped by nearly 250,000 people, affecting every group served, from pregnant people to young children. In her op-ed, CLASP’s Teon Hayes attributes the decline to narrowed access, not lack of need.

Read her full take here, via : https://progressive.org/op-eds/wic-use-drop-is-a-warning-not-a-success-story-hayes-20260805/

08/19/2026

New “Trump Accounts” for children could widen the wealth gap, especially as the administration continues to cut Medicaid, SNAP, and essential services that support our families. CLASP’s Ashley Burnside weighs in via Orlando Sentinel https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/08/10/millions-sign-up-for-trump-accounts-but-are-they-wise-investment/

08/19/2026

It is beyond time to properly invest in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the primary federal funding stream for child care assistance. Though CCDF is a lifeline for families with low incomes struggling to afford care, it has NEVER been funded at the level needed to meet eligible families’ needs. As the need grows even greater under the Trump Administration, we must advance a CCDF that reflects the value that child care provides to our families.

CLASP’s new brief, “Child Care Assistance: How Existing Federal Policy Helps Families Afford Child Care,” will support advocates and policymakers with the information necessary to secure desperately needed investments in care. Read more: https://www.clasp.org/publications/report/brief/child-care-assistance-federal-families-affordable-child-care/

07/28/2026

Fear of retaliation is a structural barrier to policy change, not just a workplace issue. CLASP's new Southern workers report documents how half of interviewed workers were uncomfortable or afraid even to ask about paid leave, and how fear of retaliation was the primary reason half of them did not try to organize their workplaces. For labor and anti-poverty advocates, the finding underscores why anti-retaliation protections must be embedded in any paid leave program and why policy work cannot be separated from worker organizing rights. Full report:

Lack of padi leave deepens poverty and inequity, especially for women of color. CLASP calls for worker-centered paid leave policies with job protection.

07/21/2026

Qualitative research is an often-underused tool in policy advocacy. CLASP's new Southern workers report pairs interviews with ten workers across five Southern states with quantitative state-level data, producing a richer picture than either approach alone could offer. For advocacy professionals, the methodology demonstrates how lived-experience research can complement existing quantitative literature and strengthen the case for worker-centered policy. Read the report:

Lack of padi leave deepens poverty and inequity, especially for women of color. CLASP calls for worker-centered paid leave policies with job protection.

07/14/2026

For advocacy organizations building the economic case for paid family and medical leave, CLASP's new Southern workers report offers critical benchmark data. Only one in four civilian Southern workers had access to paid family leave in 2023. In 2020, workers in the South needed but could not take more than 4.5 million leaves. And Southern workers lose approximately 18 billion dollars in wages each year due to unpaid or partially paid leave. These figures underscore both the scale of unmet need and the policy opportunity. Full report:

Lack of padi leave deepens poverty and inequity, especially for women of color. CLASP calls for worker-centered paid leave policies with job protection.

07/07/2026

CLASP's new report, Inaccessible and Costly: Southern Workers' Experiences with Paid Leave, is a valuable resource for anyone working on job quality, worker justice, or family economic security. Authored by Diane Harris and released in April 2026, the report combines qualitative interviews with quantitative state-level data to document how the absence of comprehensive paid family and medical leave harms Southern workers. For policy researchers and advocates, it offers a useful model for pairing lived-experience research with data-driven analysis. Read the report:

Lack of padi leave deepens poverty and inequity, especially for women of color. CLASP calls for worker-centered paid leave policies with job protection.

06/24/2026

and introduced the Act with support from 100+ lawmakers. This is the kind of leadership families need—removing cruel, xenophobic barriers to health care, food assistance, and basic support. https://brnw.ch/21x3CH0